Will Mersal overcome legal hurdle?

The Madras High Court has issued an interim stay to the makers of Vijay’s upcoming movie, against using the title Mersal for the film’s publicity, distribution, and release till October 3.

The order from the court came after AR Film Factory producer A Rajendran filed a case claiming that his production company had bought the title ‘Mersal Aayitten’ from Green Apple Pictures in 2014 and registered in 2015.

Justice Anita Sumanth passed the interim order after the petitioner claimed to have registered a similar title Merasal Aayitten, as well as Naan Merrasalaitan, with the Tamil Film Producers Council in 2015.

Rajendran has said that he complained twice to the Producers’ Council in June and August but that no action was taken. The producer then approached the court, asking that the court declares that both titles are the same.

On seeing the film’s advertisement material released on June 20, 2017, I filed a complaint with the Tamil Film Producers Council by a letter dated June 21, 2017 along with proof of registration of the title Merrasalaitan in my name, he said.

This is not the first time that a film starring Vijay has been caught in a hurdle. Many of his films including Thalaiva, Thuppakki and Kaththi had previously faced various issues before their release.